On April 14, Palestinian Columbia University student and leading pro-Palestine activist Mohsen Mahdawi was detained by immigration agents as he attended an interview as part of his application for US citizenship in Colchester, Vermont.
Mahdawi is the second Palestinian Columbia University student activist to be kidnapped by immigration authorities, after Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest which has earned international attention as demands for his release grow.
With Mahdawi’s detention, pro-Palestine groups have renewed calls to end Trump’s attacks on students and free speech. Protesters rallied outside of the New York City field office of Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) on April 15 to demand the release of Mahdawi, Khalil, Rumeysa Ozturk, Badar Khan Suri, and others detained by ICE.
“Our movement is undeterred in the face of these escalating attacks on our students,” said Naye Idriss, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement, outside of the ICE field office. “We are at the heart of fighting fascism in the United States,” Idriss told Peoples Dispatch. “The struggle for Palestine, the struggle for Gaza, is not separate from the struggle here for immigrant rights.”
Mahdawi, who is a green card holder, has not been charged with any crime. His arrest by immigration authorities took place days after a Louisiana immigration judge ruled that the Trump istration is able to deport Mahmoud Khalil, based on a memo by Secretary of State Marco Rubio which claims that Khalil’s presence in the country “would compromise a compelling US foreign policy interest.”
According to Mahdawi’s lawyer, Luna Droubi, the student was detained “in direct retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinians and because of his identity as a Palestinian.”
“His detention is an attempt to silence those who speak out against the atrocities in Gaza. It is also unconstitutional,” Droubi said.
